ELZAS 


JEWS  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 


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OF 

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■^  C'JJFGIINIA 


THE  JEWS  OF 
SOUTH  CAROLINA.... 

*i^    J^     J^     J^ 

A  Survey  of  the  Reconls 
at  Present  Existing  in  Charleston. 

. . .  B  Y. . . 
Dr.  BARNETT  A.  ELZAS, 

Rabbi  of  K.  K.  Beth  Eloliim. 

^   J^   J^    Jt 

I 

U95— 1750. 
j»  j»  >  «^ 


[Reprinted  from  the  Charleston  News  and  Courier,  Dec.  1902. 


F 

The  Jews  of  </ 

South  Carolina .... 


^fi^     %p^     t^^     t^^ 

A  Survey  of  the  Records  at  Present 
Existing  in  Charleston. 

To  write  an  adequate  and  comprehensive 
history  of  the  Jews  of  South  Carolina  to- 
day is  a  task  of  enormous  difficulty.  Not 
that  there  is  any  dearth  of  material  to 
him  who  has  the  patience  and  the  industry 
to  go  after  it,  but  because  many  valuable 
documents  are  no  longer  in  existence;  and, 
furthermore,  because  a  vast  amount  of 
material  bearing  upon  the  history  of 
South  Carolina  during  the  Revolutionary 
period,  and  indirectly,  therefore,  upon  that 
of  the  Jews,  is  at  present  hidden  away  in 
Columbia,  where  it  will  be  some  years  be- 
fore it  will  be  available  to  the  historian. 

The  oldest  records  of  the  Congregation 
Beth  Elohim,  too,  have  disappeared.  Those 
which  I  recently  recovered,  valuable 
though  they  be,  only  date  from  1800.  The 
oldest  records,  with  the  exception  ot  one 
volume,  were  no  longer  in  existence  in 
1844,  which  fact  was  elicited  in  the  exam- 
ination of  Solomon  Valentine,  the  then 
Secretary  of  the  Congregation  In  the  trial 
of  The  State  vs  Ancker,  of  which  I  have 
written  elsewhere.  ("The  Organ  in  the 
Synagogue,"  reprinted  from  The  News 
and  Courier,  November,  1902.) 

Even  that  one  precious  volume  Is  gone. 
But  in  spite  of  this  I  think  that  we  can 
obtain  from  the  rich  historical  material 
still  remaining  In  Charleston,  a  tolerably 
good  glimpse  in  outline  of  the  history  of 
the  Charleston  Jewish  community — enough 


211711.5 


at  least  to  enable  some  future  and  more 
capable  worker  in  this  field,  to  fill  In  the 
details  and  reconstruct  it  in  its  entirety. 
Personally,  I  can  only  hope  to  gather  up 
a  few  scattered  threads;  and  I  shall,  as 
far  as  possible,  let  the  records  speak  for 
themselves. 

The  story  of  South  Carolina  is  indeed  a 
thrilling  one.  From  1670,  when  it  was  first 
settled,  down  to  this  day,  it  has  been  one 
long  tale  of  glorious  achievement.  In  not 
a  few  things  has  this  State  set  the  pace 
to  her  sister  States,  but  in  nothing  may 
she  feel  a  more  Justifiable  pride  than  in 
the  broad  and  liberal  principles  on  which 
she  was  founded. 

"In  the  year  1669,"  we  read  in  the  rec- 
ords, "the  Lords  'did  encourage  severall 
people  to  come  in  their  Vessells  to  inhab- 
Itt  this  part  of  their  province  and  with  the 
said  people  did  aJsoe  send  F^indamll 
Lawes,  Constitucons  under  the  hands  & 
Scales  of  six  of  their  Lordshipps  bearing 
date  21st  July,  '69,  as  the  unalterable 
forme  &  rule  of  Governmt  for  ever.'  " 

(Langdon  Cheves,  EJsq,  in  "Shaftesbury 
Papers"— Note  to  p  117.) 

This  Constitution  of  John  Locke  (1669,) 
was  a  veritable  Magna  Charta  of  liberty 
and  tolerance.  South  Carolina  started 
right.  My  chief  concern  being  the  Jews 
of  South  Carolina,  I  would  especially  call 
attention  to  Article  87  of  that  Constitu- 
tion. It  is  to  be  found  In  the  Shaftesbury 
Papers  in  the  5th  volume  of  the  Collec- 
tions of  the  South  Carolina  Historical  So- 
ciety: 

*«87.  Bnt  atnce  ye  natlvea  of  yt 
place  -who  vrlll  be  concernd  in  or. 
plantation*  are  utterly  Mtranarera  to 
CTltrlatianlty,  wbose  IdoUatry,  Igno- 
rance, or  mistake  grlves  a«  noe  ri^ht 
to  expell  or  uae  ym.  Ill,  A  those  vrho 
remo-re  from  other  parts  to  plant 
tin^re,   frill   nnavoydably   be    of   diff- 


rent  opinions   eoncernlngr  matters  of 
rellgrlon,    ye    liberty     vrliereol     they 
^rlll   expect   to   have   allowert   yni.,   & 
it   will   not   be   reasonable   for   us    on 
this  account  to  keep  ym.  out  yt  civil 
peace    may   be    malntalnd   amidst    ye 
diversity    of   opinions,   &    our   ag,°ree- 
ment    &   compact    tvith    all    men    may 
be    duly    &    faithfully    observed,    ye 
violation  whereof  upon  what  p'tence 
soever,     cannot     be     without     g;reat 
offence    to     Alnii^hty    God,    &     grreat 
scandal    to    the    true    religrion    yt    we  \ 
p'fesse,     &     also    yt    heathens,    Jues,    <. 
and  other  dissenters  from  the  purity     i 
of    Christian     religrion     may     not    be     j 
scared  and  kept  at  a  distance   from   ^ 
it,  but  by  having  an   oppertunity   of  / 
acquaintlngr      themselves      Trith      ye,' 
truth    &    reasonablenes    of    its    doc- 
trines, &  ye  peacablenes   &  inoffen- 
dvenes     of     its     professors,    may    by 
grood    usagre    and    perswasion,    &    all 
those  convincing  methods  of  g^entle- 
nes   <fe   nieeknes    sntable   to   ye   rules 
&   deslgrne   of  the   Ghospel,   be   fvone 
over  to  imbrace  and  unfeynedly  re- 
ceive   ye    truth.    Therefore    any  sea- 
ven  or  more  persons  agrreeing^  in  any 
rellgrion     shall     constitute    a    church 
or  profession  to  Trch.   they  shall  give 
some    name    to    distingrnish    it    from 
others." 

Little  wonder,  then,  that  the  persecuted 
Jew,  like  the  persecuted  Huguenot  and 
German  Palatine,  soon  came  here  to  find 
a  haven  of  rest.  To  be  undisturbed  in  the 
possession  of  "life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,"  and  to  enjoy  the  privilege 
of  worshipping  God  as  his  conscience  dic- 
tated—these have  ever  been  the  ideals  of 
the  Jew,  even  as  they  were  the  ideals  upon 
which  this  great  Republic  was  established. 
For  by  far  the  greater  part  of  his  his- 
tory, in  every  country,  some  or  all  of  these 
"Inalienable  rights  of  man  "  have  been 
denied  him.  Here  he  could  have  them  all, 
and    in    fullest   measure.     South   Carolina 


welcomed  him,  welcomed  him  as  a  man, 
welcomed  him  as  a  brother;  welcomed  him 
as  a  citizen,  and  the  Jew  showed  himself 
worthy  of  the  confidence  that  was  reposed 
In  him.  It  is  no  Idle  boast  to  claim  that 
there  are  none  who  have  shed  more  lustre 
upon  the  annals  of  this  State,  or  have 
done  more  towards  Its  upbuilding,  than 
have  its  Jewish   citizens. 

When  did  the  Jews  first  come  here  and 
where  did  they  come  from?  Thereby 
hangs  an  interesting  tale. 

In  the  Charleston  Library  there  is  a  re- 
print of  a  unique  volume  entitled  "A  New 
Description  of  that  Fertile  and  Pleasant 
Province  of  Carolina,  by  John  Archdale, 
L.ate  Governor  of  the  Same."  (London, 
1707.)  It  was  reprinted  In  Charleston  in 
1822.  On  page  22  there  occurs  the  following 
Interesting  narrative: 

«Now  that  the  Reader  may  plainly 
dlacern,  that  the  Almishty  and  Om- 
niscient Ctodf  takes  cogrnlzance  of 
Human  Affairs,  and  directs  them  by 
a  -wise  and  prudent  Chain  of  Causes, 
I  shall  relate  some  remarkable  Pas- 
sages that  happened  quickly  after 
that  1  entered  upon  the  Go-vernment. 
which  was  the  17th  of  Augrust,  1095. 
There  is  a  Nation  of  Indians  call'd 
the  'I  ammassees,  vrho  formerly  lived 
under  the  Spanish  Government,  but 
no-w  live  under  the  EuKlish,  about 
80  Miles  from  Charles-Tofvn.  Some 
•f  these  Indians  sroing;  a  Huntlngr* 
about  200  Miles  to  the  Southward, 
met  ivith  some  Spanisii  Indians  that 
lived  about  Sancta  Maria,  not  far 
from  AuKustine,  the  Seat  of  the 
Spanish  Government;  and  taking 
them  Prisoners,  bronght  them 
Home,  desisrnlng:  to  sell  them  for 
Slaves  t*  Barbadoes  or  Jamaica  as 
yvBM  usual;  but  I  underatandinar 
thereof,  sent  for  their  King:,  and  or- 
dered him  to  bring:  these  Indians 
with    him    to    Charles-Town,    which 


accordlngrly  he  did:  There  ^vere 
three  Men  and  one  'Woman;  they 
conid  speak  Spanish,  and  I  had  a 
JeTV  for  an  Interpreter,  so  npon  ex- 
amination, I  fonnd  they  profess'd 
the  Christian  Rellgrlon  as  the  Pa- 
pists do;  npou  ^rhlch  I  thongrht  In  a 
most  pecnllar  manner,  they  ought 
to  be  freed  from  Slavery;  and  there- 
upon ordered  the  King  to  carry 
them  to  Ansrnstlne  to  the  Spanish 
Governonr  with  a  Letter,  deslrlngr 
an  ^Lns^ver  relating:  to  the  recelt  of 
them;  who  having:  recelv'd  them; 
sent  me  the  following^  Letter:  So 
far  as  relates  to  this  Affair,  I  copy 
It  forth:" 

(Here  follows  the  letter,  which  is  of  no 
interest  to   our   investigation.) 

Who  was  this  Jew  who  lived  in  Charles- 
Town  in  the  year  1695?  Can  we  find  him 
elsewhere?  Were  there  others  here  at 
that  early  date?  The  records  will  help 
us. 

In  the  Probate  Records,  1694-1704,  p.  133, 
Abraham  Avilah,  of  Charles  Towne,  in  ye 
County  of  Berkley  and  Province  of  Caro- 
lina, "for  divers  good  causes  and  consid- 
erations me  at  this  time  especially  move- 
Ing  and  more  especially  out  of  trust  and 
confidence  which  I  repose  In  Mr  Simon 
Valentine  M-cht,  make  him  my  true  and 
lawfull  attorney."  This  Power  of  Attorney 
Is  dated  March  25,  1698. 

We  meet  with  this  Simon  Valentine  sev- 
eral times  in  the  old  records.  He  writes  his 
name  Simon  Valentyn.  On  page  339  of  the 
same  volume,  Jacob  Mears,  of  ye  Parish 
of  Port  Royall,  in  ye  Island  aforesaid 
(Jamaica,)  appoints  "his  trusty  friend 
William  Smith,  of  Carolina,  merchant,  his 
true  and  lawfull  Attorney,  to  demand  of 
Simon  Valentine,  of  Carolina,  shopkeeper, 
all  and  every  such  Debt  and  Debts,  Sum 
and  Sums  &c,  as  may  be  owing  to  him." 
This  deed  Is  dated  July  3,  1701.    His  name 


also  appears  on  p.  410,  on  a  document  dat- 
ed January  24,  1704.  In  the  volume,  1692-3. 
we  find  him  several  times  as  a  surety  on 
administration  bonds.  His  name  occurs 
on  pp  248,  256,  280  and  357.  The  earliest  of 
these  documents  bears  the  date  of  1696. 

The  last  reference  to  this  Simon  Valen- 
tine Is  interesting,  as  it  is  the  earliest  rec- 
ord here  of  a  Jew  holding  land.  In  the 
volume  of  Miscellaneous  Records,  1714- 
1717,  (p.  233,)  there  Is  a  record  of  a  mort- 
gage of  a  farm  of  350  acres  from  Mordical 
Nathan  to  Henry  Peronneau  which  land, 
the  deed  tells  us,  "was  formerly  purchased 
by  the  said  Mordical  Nathan  and  Symond 
Valentine,  Deceased,  being  Joyn  purchers, 
whom  the  said  Mordical  has  sur- 
vived." It  may  be  explained  here,  that 
according  to  the  old  law,  when  two  people 
bought  a  piece  of  land  in  common,  should 
one  of  them  die,  the  land  belonged  to  the 
survivor.  This  law  has  since  been  re- 
pealed   by    Statute. 

The  next  document  of  interest  is  an  old 
will,  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  volume, 
"Wills,  1671-1727." 

Abraham  Isack,  of  Cyty  of  New  Yorlte, 
"being  bound  to  sea,  and  therefore  being 
present  in  good  health,  but  not  knowing 
when  it  may  please  the  Almighty  God  to 
take  me  out  of  ye  world,"  makes  his  will. 
It  is  dated  May  26,  1709,  and  was  recorded 
in  Charleston    February  20,  1710. 

It  is  now  some  years  before  the  records 
make  further  mention  of  Jews.  In  1739  we 
find  two  documents  concerning  Joseph  To- 
bias, Shopkeeper — one  a  lease  and  the 
other  a  transfer  of  property.  They  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Mesne  Conveyance  Rec- 
ords. (W.  471  and  PP  696.)  We  find  this 
same  Joseph  Tobias  in  one  of  the  invento- 
ries of  an  estate.  (Mesne  Conveyance,  1749- 
EO,   p.   75.) 

The  last  of  the  records  that  I  have  been 


able  to  find  occurs  in  the  Probate  Records 
lor  1736-40.  On  p.  3  there  is  a  letter  from 
New  York,  dated  November  25,  1743,  and 
addressed  to  Messrs  Daniel  and  Thomas 
La  Roche,  of  Charleston.  Mr  Jacob  Frank 
refers  to  his  nephew,  Mr  Moses  Solomons, 
and  some  difficulty  which  the  said  Moses 
Solomons  had  had  with  some  London  ship- 
ping house.  On  the  next  page  David 
Franks,  of  Charles  Town,  Gent,  declares 
that  the  letter  signed  Jacob  Frank  is  the 
handwriting  of  his  father.  It  would  seem 
from  another  letter  here  recorded  that 
Franks  had  connections  in  Lisbon.  On 
page  300  there  is  a  bond  of  Samuel  Levy 
and  Moses  Salamons,  of  Charlestown,  mer- 
chants, to  Daniel  La  Roche  &  Thomas  La 
Roche,  of  Winyau,  for  £2,605.6.8. 

Leaving  the  records  let  us  now  look  at 
the  Jews  of  early  South  Carolina,  in  their 
private  life.  As  we  have  seen,  the  Jew 
here  has  never  labored  under  any  civil  or 
religious  disability  whatsoever.  As  early 
as  1703  it  is  on  record  that  Jews  voted  at 
the  popular  election  for  members  of  the 
Commons  House  of  Assembly.  This  tolera- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Established  Church 
party  in  South  Carolina  brought  forth  a 
protest  from  the  bigoted  Dissenters  of 
that  day,  who  complained  that  "At  this 
last  election,  Jews  strangers,  sailors  ser- 
vants, negroes  and  almost  every  French- 
man in  Craven  and  Berkeley  counties 
came  down  to  elect,  and  their  votes  were 
taken;  the  persons  by  them  voted  for 
were  returned  by  the  Sheriff." 

(Rivers,  "South  Carolina,"  quoted  by 
McCrady  in  "South  Carolina  Under  the 
Proprietary  Government,"  p.  391.) 

It  is  a  pity  that  we  cannot  get  a  glance 
at  the  answer  to  this  protest.  It  would  be 
interesting,  indeed,  but  it  is  unfortunately 
not  available. 

The  next  point  of  interest  in  our  inves- 


tigation  Is  the  question  of  how  the  Jews 
made  a  living  In  those  early  days.  Here 
the  Gazettes  will  help  us. 

There  were  exceedingly  few  professional 
men  in  the  Province  in  those  days— doc- 
tors, lawyers  and  clergymen.  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  handicraftsmen  and 
planters,  the  entire  population  subsisted 
by  trade.  Competition  must  have  been 
very  keen,  for  everybody  seems  to  have 
had  almost  the  same  things  for  sale  and 
to  have  advertised  them  in  the  very  same 
way.  Let  us  look  at  the  advertisements 
in  the  South  Carolina  Gazettes,  between 
the  years  1731  and  1750. 

The  earliest  Jewish  names  that  I  have 
found  in  the  Gazettes  occur  in  an  ad- 
vertisement of  August  17,  1734,  when 
Messrs  Carvallo  &  Gutteres  announce  that 
they  "have  to  dispose  of  "Good  Old  Bar- 
bados Rum.  Good  Madera  Wine.  Musco- 
vado Sugar  &  Limejuice;  Likewise  some 
dry  goods,  &c,  living  in  Church  street, 
where  formerly  the  printing  office  was." 
I  am  not  quite  certain  that  these  were 
Jews. 

In  the  Gazette  of  November  22,  1735,  Mr 
Carvallo  advertises  for  sale  "a  very  good 
Rhode  Island  Pacing-Horse." 

On   September  14,  1738,   Isaac  De  Pas  In 

Union  street  offers  to  sell    "Good  White 

J  Sugar,  very  good  Barbados  Rum  &  very 

I  fine  Citron  Water,"  etc,  etc.  On  February 

20,    1744,    he    advertises   his    wares    at    his 

shop  on  Broad  street,   and  on   March  19, 

1744,  he  announces  to  his  patrons  that  "All 

gentlemen    that   have    rice    to    dispose    of 

may  have  two  Parts  in  ready  Cash  and 

the    Balance   in   Cordials    of  all    sorts   or 

'•  any  other  goods  that  I  have  to  sell." 

On  August  25,  1739,  we  read  the  follow- 
ing: "To  Be  Sold  in  Union  St,  by  Moses 
de  Mattos,  White,  Milk,  Ship,  Middling  & 
Brown  Bread  &  t.oaf  Sugar.     The  same 


8 


may  be  had  of  Mr  Tobias  on  the  Bay.  Also 
good  Esopius  Flour."  He  is  still  in  Union 
street,  on  November  1,  1742. 

In  the  Gazette  of  April  3,  1742,  there  is 
an  announcement  of  the  "Half -Yearly 
Festival  of  the  right  worthy  &  amicable 
Order  of  UBIQUARIANS.  Moses  Solomon, 
Esq,    is   one   of  the  Aedils. 

On  December  16,  1745,  Solomon  Isaacs  ad- 
vertises as  the  administrator  of  an  estate, 
and  on  the  same  date  Joseph  Tobias  an- 
nounces that  as  he  intends  to  leave  the 
Province  in  March,  he  would  like  those  In- 
debted to  him  to  come  and  settle.  In  the 
meantime,  "I  have  most  kinds  of  Cordial 
Drams  to  sell  by  Wholesale  or  Retail, 
Checks,  Oznabrugs,  hard  Ware,  Linnens 
&  sundry  other  Goods. 

The  last  advertisement  is  that  of  Solo-  \ 
mon  Isaacs  &  Co,  on  October  10,  1748.  They 
offer   for   sale   Negro   Cloth,    woollen   and 
linen   goods,   etc,    "at    the   House   on    the  / 
Bay,   In  which  Capt   Colcock  lives."  / 

So   far   the   Records   and    the   Gazettes.  ^ 
Summing  up,   then,   our  inquiry  thus   far  "i 
We  have   found  a   Jew  in  Charleston  in 
1695.  I  believe  that  he  came  from  Jamaica, 
where  Jews  have  lived  from  a  very  early   • 
date.    We  also  found  other  Jews  here  be-  ; 
fore  1700.   I   believe  that  they  came  from  ? 
London.    We  have  followed  the  Jew  In  his  - 
dally  life  and  as  a  citizen.    We  have  seen 
how,   socially  and  religiously,   he  was  at 
peace   with   his  neighbors.     He   lived   the 
same  life  and  followed  the  same  occupa- 
tions  that  they  did,   taking  his  full   part 
in  the  burdens  as  well  as  In  the  privileges 
of  citizenship. 

There  were  other  Jews  in  Charleston  In 
the  year  1750.  Of  these  I  shall  tell  in  my 
next  article.  Till  now,  it  is  the  Records 
In  Charleston  that  have  been  speaking. 


THE  DAGGBTT  FEINTING   CO., 
Charleston,  S.  C. 


J 


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